I was in Geneva (and a few neighboring French villages) for some meetings earlier this week. After the work was done, we had time to wander around this infamous city of neutrality and bureaucracy.

Our wanderings included a climb to the top of St. Pierre Cathedral, where the Protestant reformer John Calvin preached for nearly 30 years back in the 1500s. Calvin’s followers left their mark on the cathedral, stripping it of virtually all things aesthetic (with the exception of the stained glass windows), but it’s still an amazing sight today.

A good part of my faith journey was influenced by the lawyer-turned-theologian who preached in this cathedral, even if I’m no longer persuaded by the “five points of Calvinism” that were canonized by his followers at the Synod of Dort in the early 1600s. (I think the Calvinist notion of predestination depends on a far too individualistic reading of the scriptures.) But regardless, the older I get the more comfort I find in being part of a heritage that’s so much bigger than myself — John Calvin and all.

Anyway, here are some pictures.

Calvin’s cathedral

View of Geneva from the top of the cathedral

the Jet d’Eau and Mont Blanc

walking from Switzerland to France (ok, it wasn’t a long walk…)

By the way… should you ever find yourself in a restaurant where the menu is entirely in French, remember… just because the item “blah blah blah prosciutto blah blah blah” appears in the list of salads doesn’t mean it’s necessarily a salad with prosciutto on top. It may just be a giant plate full of nothing but… prosciutto.